1. Field of the Invention
The following generally relates to systems and methods for safely restraining passengers, such as passengers of an amusement ride.
2. General Background and State of the Art
In the art, passenger restraint systems are known. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,836, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a passenger restraint system including a pressure activated seatbelt locking device that allows an operator to control the locking and unlocking of seatbelts, such as those used on amusement rides, from a remote location. To this end, the described seatbelt locking device has a buckle portion into which a latching tongue is inserted and held by a retractable element which extends though an aperture in the latching tongue. The latching tongue can be removed from the buckle by depressing a release latch to disengage the retractable element from the aperture. The seatbelt locking device is further provided with a pneumatically inflatable air bladder which is exerted against a pivotable lever lock when properly inflated. The inflation of the air bladder causes the lever lock to pivot and bear against the lower end of the release latch, such that the release latch cannot be depressed by the user of the seatbelt to disengage the retractable element from the latching tongue. Accordingly, the seatbelt is retained in the locked position until the air bladder is deflated such that the lever lock pivots away from the release latch.
While such a passenger restraint system does work well for its intended purpose, a need does exist for an improved passenger restraint system, in particular, a passenger restraint system that, among other things, ensures that under any single-point failure the passenger restraint system seatbelt will not automatically disengage at an undesired time and/or which inhibits or restricts vehicle motion if a failure is detected in the passenger restraint system to thereby allow for an appropriate response. A need also exists for an improved passenger restraint system that allows for the use of the same components in multiple locations to, for example, reduce costs associated with spare parts inventory, training maintenance technicians, etc.